Dunn goes to prison

Russell Eugene Dunn of Sisters chose prison over substance abuse treatment and will spend the next 44 months behind bars.

Dunn was sentenced last March to two consecutive 120-day terms in county jail in connection with a Christmas Day 1998 incident in which he assaulted a woman friend and then resisted the sheriff's deputy who came to arrest him.

He also received probation with the condition that he participate in substance abuse treatment; he later refused.

According to assistant district attorney Mary Anderson, that was a "downward departure" from the full 44-month sentence. Refusal to participate in a treatment program means that Dunn will now serve the full sen-tence in prison instead of the Deschutes County Jail.

Anderson noted that "he was close to being released" when he was found in violation of his probation.

Dunn cannot change his mind once he gets to prison, Anderson noted.

"It's all done," she said. "It's a one-time opportunity."